Superbia et Humilitas
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day five hundred and thirty-nine:  sins and virtues set 7 of 7  When she's with her big sister Jean, Sue isn't anywhere near the person she is everywhere else.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 25th cycle. Now cycle 26!_

**SINS + VIRTUES SET:** _Day 7 of 7: Superbia (Pride) + Humilita (Humility)_

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><p><strong>"Superbia et Humilitas"<br>Sue & Jean **

She'd never let them see her with her sister, not so much because she expected them to be rude to her, because for all the misgivings she had toward them, she knew most people would show kindness and understanding. But then there were those on the other side, so already it didn't convince her to open up. The problem wasn't actually there… the big problem.

Sue felt she was two people. There was Sue the coach, and Sue the sister. She never really thought about it, not unless she was visiting Jean. This was the time when her spirits were at peace. Nothing could touch her so long as she was with her big sister. When they were together, it was like… like she was back to when they were younger, when there was no place for such drama as what she had to deal with, day in and day out.

Yes, she had an image to uphold, but only in not appearing weak to anyone. Jean, she was… She was her hero, plain and simple. She'd never mistreat others. She respected them, and in whatever way she could she did always try to help, especially her little sister Sue. When she was younger, she wanted to be like her… but then she met the world, saw what it was really like… And the world would eat someone so kind… in a heartbeat. So Sue tried to be strong, to protect her.

But then her strength didn't stay untouched, which was to say that… it changed her. She believed what she wanted others to believe. Maybe it was dangerous, but she couldn't even see it. People had started to respect her, to be afraid of her, and with this power, no one could ever make her feel the way they had before, not ever again. But she wasn't even really remembering that anymore. The years had piled on, and she had become Coach Sue Sylvester, renowned, revered…

The word 'intoxicating' did come to mind, though really it was more like 'second nature' now… or was it even that? Now it was more like it had slipped in and become her first nature, pushing the rest of it down into the passenger position, only there to be seen when she walked into that hospital to see her dear sister.

She didn't struggle to alternate between the two, because she kept them separate, at all times. You wouldn't see that driven, barking, 29-year-old multiple trophy winning Coach Sue Sylvester come through in that hospital. She was more than fairly determined never to have Jean see her like that. It didn't mean she acted like a trembling babbler around her either. She was still strong, just… differently. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't concerned that one day Jean would see this other side of her, and she would lose her somehow…

But it didn't stop her from being who she was out there. She had never had any indication of that being a possibility, and she had made absolutely certain of it. As it was, when she was outside that hospital, it was almost too easy to forget this other person she was for her. The rest of the world was a vast playground for Sue the Terror. She wanted what she wanted, and no one could assume to be able to keep it from her.

Some had tried, of course… Schuester and his band of merry hooligans, first and foremost. Somewhere in their minds, apparently, they thought they could just peg her as one thing, try to make her someone that fit their needs… Oh, sure, take my Cheerios, sure, take my budget, no problem! Hardly. The way she saw it, she had worked too long and too hard for what she had, and it was going to take a lot more than that to dethrone her.

Only she was slipping… It was barely there, but she could tell. There were just these moments where she wasn't seeing the line as clearly defined as it used to be. So when she would realize this, what did she do? Well, she compensated. She made first nature Sue the Terror even more… terrifying. It was for herself that she did, and for her sister. Maybe they'd complain… Actually, they usually did. But Sue didn't care. No, she had made up her mind a long time ago the kind of person she would be.

Still there were those moments when kindly Sue the sister protector would go and poke her head through, if she saw someone in such need for her boundless protection that she couldn't not see them. In times like those, as rare as they were, it was as though the two sides of who she was could finally meet and, at peace with one another, become so much more powerful. Now if she could only really understand this, keep them at peace at all times…

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>********always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!****** **


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